On the Road to Kelowna
by trek-grrrl
Summary: Jonas Quinn is amazed to learn of Kelowna, British Columbia. He, Sam and Teal'c road-trip up there to research a possible connection to the Langaran people. Jonas is in for a big surprise! COMPLETE.


Challenge 06 on "Jonas meets a civilian from Kelowna, British Columbia.  
Can be Gen, Het or Slash and any rating." 

Ch. 1

SG-1 was enjoying some down-time, during their week-off rotation. O'Neill had gone fishing, Teal'c was in his quarters in Kel'no'reem, and Jonas and Sam were in the main lab, working on little projects.

Jonas' current "little project" was called "surfing the 'Net" as he so often loved to do. The world was at his finger and mouse tips, and he'd wander site to site as links led him.

He was at one of his favorite weather sites, and through a process of going link-to-link, found himself reading about the weather in Canada.

He hadn't had the chance to learn much about countries outside of America, the one in which he was taking refuge from his homeworld of Langara, so he began exploring the weather patterns and climatology of the neighbors to the North. He knew, from his meteorological studies, that weather systems often blew in from Canada, bringing the "Polar Express" to the northern states, and cold dry air further south to meet with other air masses to produce tornadoes. Maybe he could discern some pattern, some rhyme and reason to it all.

He went to one site, and sat staring at his monitor, amazed.

"Oh my gawd," he said, in the popular American slang.

Sam looked up from her science journal. "Jonas? What'd you find?" She peered at the monitor from across the room.

"Kelowna."

Sam smiled at that, "What? You've found Kelowna? I hope it's not mentioned on the internet, that'd be a serious breach in security." She wandered over to stand behind him.

"No, look!" he exclaimed, pointing at the map. "Kelowna, British Columbia, in the country of Canada!"

She had to laugh. "Yes, I know where British Columbia is. And Canada." She looked a little closer. "Hmm. Looks like a native name."

"Native name? Like my being a native of Kelowna?"

"No, 'native' as in the people who lived here, prior to the arrival of my people... you know, when Europeans came here to the 'new world?'" She knew he'd done a remedial study of the founding of North America, wanting to know more about his adopted country.

His face screwed up in confusion. "How...? How in the world can we have Kelowna on Langara, and Kelowna, British Columbia? Is there some connection? Were my ancestors taken from this region, and brought along place names?"

Sam reached up for a couple of books about the native peoples of North America, specifically the Pacific Northwest. The city of Kelowna was more inland than Vancouver, the largest city in the province, but it was still the "PNW."

"Here, start with these two. Maybe you can peruse the books, see if there're any other similar or exact names in both BC and Langara."

A little while later, Jonas set the second book down. He'd jotted down on his notepad names that matched place names on his own planet, either similarly or exactly. This was too fascinating. He'd had such fun learning the ways of the Tau'ri, it never occurred to him to research connections between Earth and Langara. After 3,000 years, he thought there'd be no ties left at all between the two peoples, who used to be one.

"Sam, I've got to go there."

"Go? That's pretty far, how will you get there? BC is a few states away."

Jonas punched in a web address, and entered the cities. Colorado Springs, Colorado to Spokane, Washington. "Look, from here to Spokayne, which is SE of Kelowna, it's 1162.62 miles. 17 hours, 10 minutes of driving time." He turned to her. "We could take turns! It doesn't look like Kelowna is that far, once we get to Spokayne."

She sighed. She knew from his enthusiasm that this was something she wouldn't be able to talk him out of. "It's pronounced Spo-KAN, by the way," she said absently. "That's another native name. The northwest has many of them, Seattle, Tacoma, Humptulips." She smiled at that one.

"Well? Do you think we can do this? We've still got five days off. We could see if Teal'c wants to tag along. He could help drive."

"Before we go anywhere, we'll have to get clearance from General Hammond for both you and Teal'c. I don't know how the border guards will deal with either of you, and I don't want to get that far just to have to turn around again!"

They first went to see the General, not wanting to disturb Teal'c during his meditations.

Hammond listened to them both, taking turns speaking and finishing each others' sentences. Sam was beginning to pick up Jonas' enthusiasm, thinking this would be a great break from the SGC, have a chance to hang out with Jonas and Teal'c. This was a gorgeous time of year, mid-Summer, and not to be wasted inside a deep mountain.

His smile grew as their babbling continued on. "Okay, okay, you've convinced me. But if this is official and I have our people contact the border patrol, to grant you and Teal'c special access, how will I justify this in my report?"

Sam and Jonas looked at each other. "Cultural survey, to research the Goa'uld taking ancient Humans from Earth for their slavery. A possible tie between the Langarans and the natives of the Northwest. Could improve diplomatic and cultural ties with another planet."

Hammond liked the answer. "Very good, that sounds feasible, not just like a road-trip to see the pretty scenery. Let Teal'c know, when he's free, get packed, and you can go first light in the morning. Be sure to bring your expense forms, if this is official!"

Ch. 2

They were on the final leg of their trip to Kelowna, in British Columbia, not Langara. They'd got past the border guards with no problem. Sam simply showed her ID, and their names and information were already on the guard's clipboard.

"Already been cleared, ma'am, you and the two gentlemen," he peered into the van they'd rented, checking to be sure there were no extra people. Just the two men described, and the USAF Major. Nothing out of the ordinary.

Sam gave the young man one of those winning grins she knew melted men's hearts. "Thank you, Officer, you've been very kind. Maybe we'll see you on the trip back in a couple days."

He gave her a small salute, and smiled back, "Yes, ma'am, drive carefully now."

As she continued north, Jonas couldn't contain his excitement. Going from the Colorado Rockies through other states, on to Washington and its desolation, then to the Okanagan area of British Columbia had been fascinating. Such a beautiful world this was, such variety, diversity! They'd hip-hopped through and by the Rockies. The mountains were now to the east of them, and the Island and City of Vancouver were to the west. British Columbia was HUGE he was learning!

They pulled off the highway to a convenience store, to find out where they could get a hotel for the next few days.

The store clerk was happy to oblige, but warned it might be difficult. This was the popular tourist season, during the lovely mild weather, and it may be hard to get a room or rooms, he added, as he saw the two men come up behind Sam.

He pointed down the highway, "About two miles that way, you'll see a nice hotel, the Kelowna Inn. I know the manager, it's inexpensive, in US dollars at least, and well-kept."

They thanked him, paid for the snacks they'd picked up, and headed out. When they arrived, it was fairly busy. "Do you think we'll get in?" Jonas asked, watching the crowds.

"Sure, we will, think positively." Sam was right, they got in, no problem. They suspected the store clerk may've called ahead to warn the manager, get them a nice room. Well, regardless, Sam thought, it was decent, not too noisy.

Teal'c and Jonas went to the van to unload their stuff. As Jonas followed behind Teal'c to the automatic door, a young woman with luggage of her own tore around the corner, right into Jonas.

"OH!" she exclaimed, "I'm SO sorry!" She leaned down, helping him back up. She set her own luggage down, and began fussing with his.

He wasn't going to allow a young lady to help HIM with luggage, so he insisted on taking it back, and her's as well. "No, no, allow me."

She grinned shyly, looked up at him from downcast eyes, and liked what she saw. Teal'c looked back at the two when he'd heard the initial commotion, and decided Jonas Quinn had it well in hand. He would probably want to talk to this young lady alone. He nodded silently to Jonas, and continued on to locate their rooms.

They stood looking at each other, rather shyly, and Jonas set all the luggage down again, and stretched a little. He'd pulled a muscle falling, and winced.

"Did I hurt you? I'm so sorry, I just got here myself, from Seattle. I was in a hurry to get my stuff put away, for the family reunion which starts in" and she looked at her watch, "half an hour! I've still got to get cleaned up, I've been driving for a few hours!"

"Family reunion? And what family would that be, if I might ask?" Jonas was all politeness, but he'd not heard of family or clan gatherings on Earth. This might be an interesting cultural situation.

"Quinn."

"No, what family QUINN!" His eyes went wide and the shock on his face was apparent.

She laughed a little, "Yes, Quinn, what of it?" with an edge to her voice.

"Your name is QUINN?"

"Yes, why? Are you a Quinn too?"

He looked around excitedly, for Sam and Teal'c, and remembered they'd gone on to their rooms. "Yes, yes, I'm Quinn too! Jonas Quinn! Of..." and he stopped.

"Of? Where are you from?"

"Kelowna!" he said proudly. Why not? It's not a lie, after all.

"So you're here for the reunion too? If you live here, why'd you get a hotel room?"

"Oh, well, I don't actually LIVE here. I was born here. I live in Colorado now. My friends, there, before you ran into me, they're visiting too, we're getting settled in."

She smiled. "So maybe we aren't cousins."

He smiled back, amber eyes sparkling when he looked into her own similarly colored eyes. "I doubt there'll be any danger of that, that we're closely related."

"Well, let's find out. Why don't you come with me? You're a Quinn, after all, right? Meet some of my people, I won't know them all myself. After, I've got some family genealogy books, maybe we can look through them. Find a connection."

"That sounds great, but you haven't told me YOUR name yet, except it's Quinn."

She held out her hand, "Amelia Quinn. Seattlewah."

"Jonas Quinn, pleased to meet you, Ms. Quinn." And he bowed gently to her, the perfect gentleman.

He went to the room he and Teal'c were sharing, found him and Sam talking, looking out the window at the scenery.

"You won't believe this, I think we found exactly what we needed! There's a QUINN family reunion here, today, and someone I met named Quinn invited me! She wants to go over some family books aftewards!"

Sam scowled a moment. "You think that's wise, getting in with them? You're not going to slip and come off as a weirdo, are you?"

"Naw, I'm a tourist from America, I don't know any better. Not too far from the truth, is it?"

Ch. 3

Amelia and Jonas sat outside on a park bench, with two books in between, going over them. Jonas knew the books wouldn't hold much, his people had been separate far too long. But he enjoyed her company. He felt a tie to her, and the Quinn family he'd met, that he'd never felt since coming to Earth. Granted, thousands of years separated him from these people, but to find that common bond was something special. He already thought of Amelia and the Earth Quinns as his distant cousins.

"Amelia, I came to Kelowna to research my family history, the history of my people. To come here and find a Quinn family gathering was just too coincidental! I feel strongly there's a bond between us, a very distant bond, but one nonetheless. I mean, look at your eyes! It's like I'm looking into my sister's eyes! And your hair is virtually the same color as my own!"

She grinned at him, "Yes, I've noticed. We LOOK like cousins, don't we?"

"There is one thing I'd like to do."

"What's that," she asked.

"I want to have DNA testing done. See if there's any slight possibility that you are my people. I've lost touch with most of my family, and to have someone, even an 8th cousin five times removed is better than nothing!"

She laughed at that, "That's true. What would I have to do? The cheekswab I see them do on TV?"

"Yes, that'd be perfect! Here, let me get something out of our van." He reached in for the travel medical kit they kept on hand, and took out some swabs. She swabbed her own cheek, and they put it in a sealed plastic bag. He wrote her name on it, and got her phone number.

"There, if there's anything, that'll tell us. I work in a lab, in Colorado, we can test it right there!"

They looked into each others' eyes. She was quite lovely, and she thought the same of him. But even though she may've been someone he would be interested in, he couldn't see her that way. Distant cousin, she is, he thought. I can't think that way about a cousin.

She seemed to think the same thing, it'd almost be like kissing her brother.

He and Amelia spent the rest of their visit together, laughing, telling jokes, spinning tales of their youth, acting like two long-lost cousins from childhood. A bond grew between them, and they began calling each other "cos." It didn't look like they were going to get any other information, but the DNA testing would be a start.

He told her they had to head back to Colorado.

"Amelia, cos, I hate having to say goodbye, we're just starting to know one another."

She hugged him, put her head on his shoulder. "I know, cos, but Seattle's not too far away. Do those tests, and let me know what you find out."

She gave him a chaste kiss on the cheek, one final hug, and ran back to her room. Sam and Teal'c watched from the van.

"She seems to regard you as family already, Jonas Quinn," Teal'c said.

Jonas smiled in her direction. "Yes, isn't it great?"

Postscript:

Jonas looked in amazement at the DNA results. He'd been right. He and Amelia, and her clan, and all those thousands and thousands of Quinns, all the way back 3,000 years, were somehow related. The name, Quinn, had been taken from a Pacific Northwest native name of "Quinault." Over time, even with the separation, it had been changed to "Quinn," both on Earth and Langara.

He picked up the phone to call Seattle.

Fin.


End file.
